Helios flight delayed by passenger’s panic attack

A HELIOS flight to Strasbourg was delayed at Larnaca airport yesterday morning when one of the passengers suffered a panic attack.

The representative of Civil Aviation informed the Cyprus News Agency that the passenger had boarded the Helios flight, which was due to take off at 8am. However, just before the aircraft reached the runway, the passenger had a panic attack. The pilot was then forced to inform the control tower that the flight would not be able to take off until the passenger had disembarked.

With the agreement of the representative of Civil Aviation, staff at Larnaca airport tried to remove the passenger’s luggage from the aircraft, but the passenger then changed his mind and decided to fly after all.

The flight finally took off at 10.30am because, according to the representative of Civil Aviation, the episode had caused delays in air traffic.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.